Deposed judge moved to Quetta

Islamabad: Justice Javed Iqbal, one of the Supreme Court judges deposed after the imposition of emergency, has been shifted to Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, where he has been confined to his residence.

Police Deputy Inspector General Rehmatullah Niazi told the media that the judge had been detained in his house located in the cantonment area of Quetta.

Strict security was in force at the Quetta airport where the judge was brought aboard a flight from Islamabad. He was driven in a black car from the airport, escorted by security personnel.

Niazi said Iqbal was still a judge and would be given due protocol. However when journalists tried to visit the judge at his guarded residence they were not allowed. Javed Iqbal was among the seven judges who, on the day the emergency was declared, passed an order against the extra-constitutional step. Earlier this week the new Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and seven other judges declared that order null and void.

Chaudhry may be shifted

There were unconfirmed reports that deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was also likely to be shifted to Quetta.

A report on the internet edition of the BBC Urdu service quoted the sacked chief justice as telling its correspondent in an interview that the government wanted to forcibly send him to Quetta and keep him in solitary confinement there. He said if the government thinks that shifting him to Quetta from Islamabad would mitigate its difficulties it was wrong.